


Close Your Eyes

by To_Shiki



Category: Pacific Rim (2013)
Genre: F/M, Gen, M/M, because i don't know how to finish fics i'll just post more, everyone lives!, pr kink meme, raleigh whump, sorta - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-06-03
Updated: 2014-06-14
Packaged: 2018-02-03 07:59:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,832
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1737185
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/To_Shiki/pseuds/To_Shiki
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>From the Pacific Rim kink meme round 2:<br/>Raleigh + Mako and others, why you should always check for a pulse <br/>So at the beginning of the film, the Beckett brothers make the mistake of turning their back on a Kaiju that isn't quite dead, and Yancy gets killed. Obviously Raleigh learns his lesson when it comes to Leatherback, and he "checks for a pulse".</p><p>But let's say he didn't quite learn his lesson with Knifehead and Yancy...</p><p>Leatherback gets back up: this time it's Mako that ends up being killed. How does Raleigh react? How does Pentecost react to his adoptive daughter being killed? And if you're feeling ambitious, how does Mako's death affect the end of the film?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So behind on things so here, have another fic that's half finished while I try to work on more. Not beta read. I don't know how things really work when a neural handshake is broken like with Yancy so we're going to pretend this is right. Song used is All My Love by Gackt http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sxc-SJmH8Qc

Everyone from his office to the infirmary door leading to Raleigh Becket made sure to give Pentecost an unobstructed path. Everyone except for the short woman standing in front of him, effectively stopping him in his tracks. Of course, he was angry enough and suffering enough that if he bodily lifted her up and moved her aside no one would really blame him.

_Turning his back killed his brother. Now it killed my daughter. The one bit of hope I had left for the future and he murdered her._

Once Leatherback, and surprisingly, Otachi were defeated the solo pilot had dragged his way back to the ‘Dome. When the crew were able to pry open the Conn-pod so medical could go in Stacker, Herc, Chuck, and Tendo were right behind them.

Inside Raleigh was curled up on the floor, Mako in his arms, rocking the both of them back and forth slowly. Both looked so peaceful there on the metal floor. Mako could have been only sleeping as Raleigh brokenly sang into her ear.

“Falling stars negai wo kakereba konya mo yume de aeru kana…”  
 _“Falling stars I wonder if I wish on them, can I see you again in my dream tonight…?”_

Pentecost mentally translated the song, their meaning firmly cementing the fact that he’d lost another Ranger. He’d lost his daughter.

It took the team of doctors and nurses partially sedating Becket for him to let her go without aggravating his own injuries. Both Rangers were loaded up onto gurneys with Mako being rolled out first. Herc stood close to his side as Stacker reached out and gently brushed blood matted bangs off his girl’s forehead.

Raleigh was still singing as he was wheeled past. Weakly he tried to reach out for his co-pilot as he was wheeled past. Finger tips barely brushing the mattress of the gurney.

“Itsu no hi ka mata aeru kara  
 _One day, we can meet again.  
_ Ima wa sayonara  
 _So, goodbye for now.”_

Medical wouldn’t allow him into the lift with the surviving Gipsy Danger’s pilot. As the doors shut Raleigh pushed his upper body up enough to look him dead in the eyes and inform him, “Aishiteru, Sensei.” Those eyes promptly rolled up and he collapsed back down onto the thin mattress sending the medical staff into a frenzy.

~*~

“Out of the way, nurse. I need to speak with Mr. Becket.” Military calm to keep others from realizing his intent – his desire – to rip apart the boy’s physical body so he may feel how Pentecost felt when he saw her vitals drop on the display.

“It’s _doctor_ , sir. And no one’s going in there until Dr. Kreiner, the top drift psychologist, finishes her session with him.”

“Then please explain to me, _doctor_ , why Mr. Choi is in there with him.”

“Mr. Choi is in there to assist with Mr. Becket’s eval seeing as he has known all 3 patients the longest.”

“Three…?”

“Yes, sir. Three.”

Through the window in the door Stacker can see Becket sitting up in the hospital bed, Tendo sitting in the visitor’s chair beside him and the psychologist sitting next to him with a clipboard in hand while the two men talked. With the door closed he couldn’t hear their conversation but with the way Tendo was holding himself he knew things weren’t going well. His back was too straight, hands making a move to touch then jerking back down to rest on the railing of the bed or his lap.

“Sir? Glaring at the poor man like that won’t do him any good.”

“He is no ‘poor man’. And what did you mean by 3 patients?”

“You **_do_** know what happens when a Jaeger pilot dies while still holding hands with their co-pilot when the connection is strong enough.”

_Oh dear Lord in Heaven._

“Two minds connected as one sharing three bodies: their own and the Jaeger.”

_It’s just a myth._

“When one mind is suddenly ripped away – unexpectedly without a body – it will go to the only place it has left.”

_My girl’s still alive? Trapped inside the body of some punk who can’t learn from his mistakes?_

“Into the mind of their co-pilot.” She let him absorb that bit of information. “Sadly, most of the pilots this has happened to died soon after from the mental strain. Mr. Becket is the longest living Ranger to have another consciousness keeping him company. Be thankful this never happened to you. Sir.”

The Marshal slowly turned to face the room once more. Tendo still looks tense, but there are wrinkles at the corners of his eyes as Becket says something, gesturing wildly with his hands. Dr. Kreiner looks up from her notes, sees the Marshal and says something to the two men, gets up and waves good-bye to them, and heads for the door.

Both Stacker and the doctor, Hower reads the nametag, step back so she may exit without hitting either of them. She closes the door and leans against it, effectively blocking anyone’s chance of looking in.

“Marshal Pentecost.”

“Doctor Kreiner. What’s the verdict?”

“Well,” she stalls, looking down at her scribbles. “Operation Pitfall is still a go. Becket’s more than capable of piloting his Jaeger long enough to save the world. After that…”

“After that I can have a word with him?” His tone suggested it was more a fact than permission. He’s not letting this go at all. Frankly, he shouldn’t even let the boy pilot. He has no co-pilot now and without a doubt should be grounded.

The doctor raised an eyebrow at him. “Well considering that they’re suggesting the bomb be placed on Gipsy’s back instead of Eureka’s I doubt you’ll get to talk to them once everything’s said and done. They’re hell-bent on being the ones to seal the breach. ‘Less causalities that way.’”

“They who?” Herc approaches the small group with Chuck and Max on his heels. Both pilots look like they’re itching to go into the room though the older Hansen does a better job of hiding it.

“They are Raleigh Becket, of course, along with Yancy Becket and now Mako Mori.” She stares Pentecost right in the eyes as she announces this. “Yancy’s been with Raleigh for the past five and a half years. Something that isn’t marked in his files for some reason. Seems someone skipped out on making him take the required psych evaluations after Alaska and before coming here. Miss Mori just recently woke up. I’d say maybe half hour after Gipsy made it back to the Shatterdome.”

“So wait. What?” Chuck cut into the conversation angrily. “Are you telling me that Rah-leigh’s got his dead brother and the rookie – uh, no offense, sir! – in his head right now? They’re literally holding conversations in his head?”

“In short…? Yes. Which can be very dangerous as there’s really only room for one consciousness within the human brain for a prolonged period of time without it causing a psychotic break. Any more than that could cause severe problems operating in the real world. Right now they’re having a hard time not bleeding through. According to Mr. Choi, Yancy and Mako spoke several times in place of Raleigh.”

“And how will this affect his piloting?” Herc questioned.

“Marginally. Right now his balance is off because of Yancy and Mako surfacing randomly so as to interact with Tendo. I would strongly suggest that Operation Pitfall to begin as soon as possible.”

“Oh, it will. Just as soon as the Jaegers are ready to go.”

“Who all will be going?” Chuck asked as the two doctors walked away with a final warning to them _not_ to enter the room. He peeked through the window and saw that Tendo had migrated to the edge of the bed; shoulders shaking while Raleigh (Yancy? Mako?) held him.

“The Kaidanovsky’s and Wei Tang brothers are too injured to pilot. It’ll be Gipsy carrying the payload with Striker as defense.”

“Is that wise, Stacks? I mean, how well can he pilot solo?”

“We’ll just have to find out, won’t we?”

~*~

Everything was in place: the bomb on Gipsy’s back, the Hansen’s in Striker ready to protect Becket, Tendo (completely presentable and capable of sending his best friend/husband/little sister off to die. for good) was in LOCCENT ready to initiate the neural handshakes. The Russian and Chinese pilots were crowded together in a small hospital room with a small boxy TV sitting at the end of Jin’s bed so they could watch the proceedings in between rounds of painkillers and tests.

Pentecost stood off to the side as Becket was suited up. Despite being the authority figure of this ragtag group of fighters the medical personnel hadn’t let him approach the young man since arriving back to base. Nor was he allowed to go near him in their last few nerve-racking hours while the nurses and Choi helped him/them work on their balance and coordination – Mako used to a lower center of gravity and wider hips and Yancy to being slightly shorter than his brother (that one single inch made more difference than they had thought) and suddenly able to be in control of a body again.

Now the Marshal watched as Becket stood there; no wise cracks to the crew, no fidgeting and “adjusting” the suit. He did, on occasion, turn his head slightly to look in his commanding officer’s direction. Those times had Pentecost quietly sucking in his breath through his teeth.

The first time Becket had turned to him it was obviously Raleigh – guilt, shame, and defeat in his eyes.

Then it was Mako’s turn to stare at him. The desperation in his little girl’s (blue) eyes, no matter it was Raleigh’s face they were set in, nearly had him breaking his military training and ignoring her original upbringing to go over and embrace her.

For a split second Pentecost felt guilty himself. He was sending someone else’s son on a suicide mission. It was different from all the other times of sending out Rangers: they had a chance of coming back.

There was guilt and misery in her eyes for failing her adoptive father. For dying. But then she blinked as Raleigh adjusted their stance and the guilt and misery was gone. Instead it was nothing but purpose. Lips set in a grim line, eyes hardening as the final pieces were attached and Raleigh’s body stared moving towards the walkway, half a strut like his older brother.

“Yancy wants you to know he apologizes, sir.”

Raleigh speaking to him as they gradually approach the entrance to the Conn-pod startles him. He doesn’t show it, of course. Fixed point and all that.

“And why should he be apologizing to me, Becket?” He can’t hit him. Can’t lash out; unload all his anger/sadness/guilt on the young man. He’s needed to stop the apocalypse, after all. The mental images of dragging him into his office and beating him until he’s a quivering lump of bruises and blood help keep his voice level and body relaxed.

The thought of taking his place, making him live with two extra voices in his head until it drives him insane is tempting. But he can’t. Someone has to remain. Someone has to be a fixed point.

They pause outside the Conn-pod. Neither moves to look at the other. “He’s sorry for distracting us. I had thought, briefly, to turn and check on Leatherback, but then Yancy started cheering us on. My joy at our joint work – it bled through – making all of us… giddy, I guess.” Raleigh rests his hand on the edge of the open hatch. “Mako’s sorry, too. For letting her training fall, for joining us in our excitement. She knew our files inside and out. She feels like she should have known better. Should have been the adult of our little trio.”

Now Raleigh spins on a heel, helmet cradled under an arm. He bows low at the waist. Mind eager to see her alive one last time has Pentecost _imaging_ all three of them as they apologize. “Gomen nasai, sensei.” Raleigh’s voice doesn’t drop or rise to show Mako taking over like in movies. It stays the same as he speaks for all three.

Stacker can still hear his adoptive daughter and the cocky Beckets as if each were in their own bodies speaking simultaneously.

He straightens and they’re gone.

About face. Calmly step into the pod. The crew slams the door, politely ushering the Marshal off the walkway so the drop can happen.

Stacker enters LOCCENT, stands behind Choi, resting a hand on the back of his neck briefly, silently acknowledging their impending loss. Watches as the Jaegers are deployed.


	2. Chapter 2

Scunner, Raiju, and Slattern are dead.

The Breach is sealed.

Striker Eureka missing her right arm, right leg badly mangled. Both pilots still alive and kicking. Standing at the edge of the Breach. Waiting.

Everyone in LOCCENT holding their collective breath.

As soon as Gipsy Danger disappeared into the Breach all communications died out. No one knows if Becket had managed to deploy his escape pod. Does he even have enough oxygen to make it back? Is he rising up through uncharted alien territory right now? Will he be able to go back through the Breach and return to their world?

Did he peacefully – full of terror and acceptance – die within Gipsy as the bomb detonated? Were Yancy and Mako able to mentally comfort him as the end drew close? Was he still alive, trapped within the Breach, within his pod to slowly die as the oxygen ran out?

What if it hadn’t closed at all? The closing all a ploy by the precursors and now both pilot and Jaeger were captured for studying and torture? How long could he survi-

The blip on the screen sounded right before LOCCENT heard both Hansen’s yell in surprise.

“BECKET!”

“GRAB ‘EM!”

Striker’s hand shot out, gently curling her fingers around the rising escape pod. The Hansen’s turned, cradled their valuable cargo close and proceeded to move as fast as mechanically and humanly possible to depths where the helicopters could easily snag them up.

Inside LOCCENT Tendo was silently freaking out with everyone else joining. On screen it showed that yes there was a human being in there matching Raleigh’s records. What it wasn’t showing were his vitals. Respiratory, Cardiac, and Brain monitors all flat-lined. But they were constructed of delicate materials. Could have easily been knocked loose or damaged in the battle. Temp readings displaying the body within at being cooler than a body should be. Only by a degree or five. Completely understandable given how deep into the ocean/Breach he was.

“Striker! I’ve got no vitals from the pod! One of you get out once it's possible and pop the hatch!”

“Roger that, Tendo! Give us a coupla seconds!” Within the bridge Herc was able to feel his son’s concern for the Becket as they picked up the pace.

Legs burned and lungs screamed for a break as they broke the surface of the ocean 45 seconds later with Guam barely visible in the distance. As soon as the water reached the Jaeger’s shoulders both pilots disengaged from the handshake and bolted for the outside. Chuck was the first one up the ladder and out. A short sprint to the edge and he was jumping into the water next to the pod. Behind him his father went to the shoulders, readying himself for when the helicopters arrive and help attach the lines.

Chuck made quick work of swimming over and climbing up onto the pod resting upon the Jaeger's palm. Hastily fumbling for the release he popped it open. “He’s not moving! Lips’re blue!” he reported back, loud enough for his old man to hear as well despite both being on the same comm line.

“Check for a pulse!” Tendo’s voice came through.

He yanked off his gloves, pressing fingers to the pulse point in the neck. He stopped breathing as he checked, focusing entirely on his fellow pilot.

Sluggish pulses against his fingers. Spaced out too far for comfort. Disappearing.

“Got a pulse! But it’s fading!”

“Breathe for him!” Herc ordered as helicopters emerged, miles out and closing in fast. “Help’s almost here!”

Chuck pinched Raleigh’s nose and sealed their lips together. Breath in, pull back, breath in, pull back. Check there’s still a pulse. Repeat. Repeat. Rep-

“We’ve got ‘em, kid.”

Hands pull him back. More hands pull on the latches on the pod, exposing Becket’s limp body. A line gets attached to his suit and guides him up as Raleigh’s once again put in the care of the medical team. In the helicopter his dad joins in the pulling, making it so he can’t see him until he's strapped down to a backboard, pulled up and strapped down again this time to the helicopter and a lithe woman kneeling over him as she works to keep him breathing.


End file.
